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 Warren Launches Counterattack On Hatton And Harris ClaimsUK Report by James McDonnell (July 22, 2004)  Send this page to friend Give us your feedback Boxing promoter Frank Warren has come out fighting after taking flak from his star name Ricky Hatton over the way he has handled the Manchester man's career.
Hatton was also unhappy that his last two fights had been against low-grade opponents, and that he had climbed into the ring unaware of what his purse had been. Frank Warren countered in the Manchester Evening News, the same newspaper in which Ricky Hatton aired his views. "I discuss all of these things with Ricky's father Ray, …So, who do I speak to - is it Ricky or his father, who handles his business affairs?" "As for Harris, we didn't announce the deal - it was announced on Harris's website, and as a result of that we were getting phone calls, so we put a statement out on our website. "Regarding the money, you have to remember that Vivian Harris is the champion and before you can do a deal with anyone else you have to sort the champion out. If the fight had gone to purse bids, the challenger would get 20 per cent - Ricky will be doing better than that." With regard to Hatton’s complaint about the quality of his last two opponents Dennis Holbaek Pedersen and Carlos Vilches, Warren said: "Everything was agreed for that fight, but (Kelson) Pinto pulled out. I could not help what happened - it was a case of fight Pedersen or don't fight at all." With regard to Vilches, Warren put the onus firmly on Hatton and his team for that one. "As for Vilches, he was an opponent picked by Billy Graham and Ricky - I never picked him." WARREN ADAMANT THAT HARRIS FIGHT WILL GO AHEAD DESPITE HARRIS’ CLAIMS OF HATTON NO-SHOW. An interview at boxinginsider.com reveals that Vivian Harris remains sceptical about the fight with Hatton coming off in October. Interview quotes taken from boxinginsider.com. Vicious Vivian Harris: "Honestly, I don't know. A lot of things were supposed to happen. Right now, Vivian Harris is ready to fight anybody in the junior welterweight division. I have no problems coming to England to fight him." Vicious Vivian Harris: "Frank Warren don't really want to make a fight with me and Ricky Hatton because he knows I'm going to beat Ricky Hatton. He do not want to make that fight. That's his money fighter. And if I beat Ricky Hatton, what happens to him? What happens to his investment?" Vicious Vivian Harris: " I honestly don't think the fight is going to happen - but Vivian Harris wants to fight Ricky Hatton. " I phoned Richard Maynard at Sports Network, and I was contacted directly by Frank Warren, who was kind enough to give me his slant on proceedings. "As far as I am concerned, I have signed a contract with Main Events, and the fight is signed and sealed." "I don’t know where Vivian is coming from with these statements, but if he has his doubts, I suggest you contact his people about it; as far as I am concerned it is signed and sealed." I don’t know if that was a suggestion that Vivian was needling his own management by suggesting the fight wasn’t yet made, but as far as I could tell, Frank Warren was adamant the fight was on. I asked him with regard to any problems with TV dates, venue etc, his response was unequivocal if not expansive. "The fight will go ahead as planned." I guess though that Frank will just have to accept some people’s scepticism until fight night. However as I stated before, if this fight does come off, nobody will have any cause to complain about the matchup this time. As Frank himself stated on his own website, Harris may well enter the ring a slight betting favourite, and most observers have this as a 50-50 fight, and even the most optimistic Hatton fans shouldn’t be predicting a walkover against the tough transplanted Brooklyn-based fighter. PPV OVER THE TOP! Call me a miserable bastard, but I think the promoters of the upcoming Tyson v Danny Williams bout are really taking the piss somewhat out of the boxing public. With ringside tickets selling for about £600 a pop, for a non-title 10 rounder, and an anaemic undercard, I think there is an element of rip off. I understand that in the US the card will be a whopping $45, so for once it’s nice to be getting a bargain at £15, which is roughly $25. Even that seems a little steep, but I will be watching anyhow. THE ICE MAN COMETH FOR SKELTON Matt Skelton, another Sports Network fighter, and Frank Warren’s ‘Audleydote’ to the domestic heavyweight scene, takes on Alfred ‘Ice’ Cole, former IBF Cruiserweight champion, and long time heavyweight trial horse. Although some I’ve spoken to have been extremely critical of this choice of opponent, I can think of few other fighters with Cole’s experience who could have been brought over for short money at short notice. Skelton is not a huge star as yet, and I cannot think of anyone who would be more competitive. Cole, now 40, is obviously past his best, but still competitive enough to go the distance with Hasim Rahman recently, and remain competitive. In fact, at heavyweight, only two men in his career - heavy-handed banger Corrie Sanders and once dangerous giant Michael Grant - have stopped Cole. Skelton will certainly get a decent workout against Cole, and I will be impressed if Skelton is able to stop him. Skelton is a pressure fighter with good aggression and work rate, but is nowhere near as experienced as Cole, and showed against Julius Francis that he still has a lot to learn against a foe determined to survive, which may well be Cole’s M.O. Cole is well known for being durable and is a natural survivor, and Skelton, it should be remembered, is a relatively green heavyweight. Although 37 years old, Skelton is only in his second year as a pro, and readily admits in interviews that he is learning on the job. Whilst I’ve not thus been sold on Skelton’s skills, he does seem to fight to his strengths, and has made pretty spectacular progress for a fighter with no amateur pedigree thus far. Skelton started out in K-1 kickboxing, where he had a successful career before turning to professional boxing. It appears that negotiations are now well underway for Skelton to offer Audley Harrison a crack at his British and Commonwealth titles, which Audley has coveted for some time. In fairness, the fact that Sports Network signed up all of Audley’s domestic competition may well have hastened that decision, as the lack of competitive and meaningful contests certainly didn’t help Harrison’s cause. With Harrison now in negotiations to take on Skelton, it will be interesting to see where his future lies promotionally, now that the BBC will no longer be carrying his fights, at least for the foreseeable future. Will Harrison do the unthinkable and renege on his vow not to ‘dine with the devil,’ so to speak, and sign with Sports Network? We shall see. BBC BOXING ATROPHIES It appears that boxing is very much on the decline on terrestrial TV in the UK, with the disappearance of live boxing from the BBC schedules quite possibly imminent. Whilst there has been no official announcement to that end, the end appears nigh. Audley Harrison of course did not have his contract with the BBC renewed, and is now speaking to Frank Warren regarding a title tilt at Skelton. In addition, Hennessey Promotions appear to no longer have an arrangement with the BBC, which had screened a number of their bills in 2003-2004, including Super middleweight prospect Carl Froch, Junior Witter, and middleweight contender Howard Eastman. Now it seems unlikely that any of these men will receive terrestrial exposure again. At present, only David Haye, who is promoted by Fight Academy appears to have a future with the BBC, at least for the time being. The BBC is still showing HBO broadcasts on a delayed basis, and will cover Olympic boxing. However, next year will we see the same amount of coverage, or has the BBC abandoned boxing completely? Thus far the BBC have made no official statement, despite there having been a recent overhaul of the BBC’s public contract. If David Haye manages to continue his rapid progress up the paid ranks, then perhaps the coverage will continue into next year, but with the BBC’s main competition ITV no longer covering live boxing (it is almost a decade since they last covered it), things aren’t looking good for boxing on the box. NEGOTIATIONS WITH TARVER UNDERWAY FOR CALZAGHE? Frank Warren is trying to revive Joe Calzaghe’s fortunes following his injury-related pullout from his scheduled contest against Glen Johnson. Although denied by Calzaghe and Warren, rumours have abounded that Calzaghe’s personal life has spilled over to affect his professional dedication, with sightings of a somewhat overweight Calzaghe enjoying his time off to good effect in nightclubs and bars in his native Cardiff. Calzaghe is currently in the midst of what appears to be a messy divorce proceeding, and it is easy to imagine how this would affect his fighting condition. Calzaghe was recently charged with ‘threatening behaviour’ following a domestic dispute with his former partner Mandy at their home. His wife subsequently dropped the charges. However, with the last two years of his career having been relatively inactive and disappointing, Calzaghe must now seize whatever opportunities come his way, lest his boxing prime slip by without the defining fight which he once seemed to crave. Calzaghe can of course be forgiven for being somewhat distracted from his fighter’s lifestyle under the present circumstances - he is only human after all. However, Antonio Tarver appears to have other fish to fry, having recently called out James Toney, whom he wants to tackle at heavyweight. In a wide open heavyweight division, Tarver can doubtless see several fights for himself, with Tyson looking for paydays, and Jirov looking for more opponents with the likely end of Mesi’s career. It seems likely it will need a big carrot to get Tarver to entertain the notion of staying at light heavyweight to fight Calzaghe, especially if Roy Jones comes calling, provided of course he gets by veteran Glen Johnson. SOLIMAN STEALS A MARCH ON FORMER CONQUEROR EASTMAN. It’s a sad state of affairs when you consider the career of Howard Eastman, who has been largely invisible since his losing effort against William Joppy back in 2002. This was only highlighted for me by the fact that one of his former victims, Sam Soliman, has now secured himself his status as the IBF #1 contender, after beating highly regarded Raymond Joval in impressive fashion, dropping Joval in round four on the way to a 12 round unanimous decision. Joval had beaten Soliman in their previous encounter. Sam Soliman, an Australian of Egyptian extraction, has come on leaps and bounds after an indifferent early career, when he was poorly moved, and often took short notice fights, has learnt his trade the hard way, and now looks like he might get a future challenge against champion Bernard Hopkins if whispers are to be believed. It’s rumoured that HBO are interested in a clash between Jermain Taylor and Soliman, with the winner getting a crack at Hopkins, provided he gets past Oscar. It shows the merits of keeping busy and taking opportunities when they come along. Eastman appears to have allowed his career to stagnate, with only 7 fights in 3 years, and that against opposition ranging from the mediocre to the middling, with only his win over Hacine Cherifi in 2003 really impressing. Eastman looked out of sorts against Sergey Tatevosyan last time out, and needs desperately to impress against Jorge Sendra in defence of his European title later this year. The fight is set to take place in London. With Hennessey Promotions now without a BBC deal, it is doubtful whether or not Eastman will receive any coverage for his European title fight, which would be a great shame. European title fights used to be a mainstay of domestic boxing coverage, and are essential in maintaining the profile of the sport in the mainstream. Will the BBC make a deal on a one-fight basis, or will Sky TV be dealing with Hennessey in the future? Discuss this Topic - Go to the forums Send an E-mail to James McDonnell |
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